Wingnuts Heart Dr. Ben Carson

Dr. Benjamin Carson is the latest in a long line of black conservatives — from Clarence Thomas to Herman Cain — relentlessly promoted and propped up by right-wing voices in the media. After Carson used a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in front of President Obama to trumpet conservative arguments about economics and health care, News Corp. properties rushed to anoint him as the newest political “star.” Fox News and Fox Business hosted Carson eight times in the days following his speech, and he has been praised by Fox personalities as a courageous leader who is “saving America” and by the Wall Street Journal in an editorial headlined, “Ben Carson For President.”

At The National Prayer Breakfast, Carson Called For Flat Tax, Conservative Health Care Policy. In his keynote address at the February 7 National Prayer Breakfast — delivered steps from President Obama, who was seated at the head table — Carson made conservative arguments about health care, tax policy, and the national debt. The Atlantic’s David A. Graham wrote:

Carson delivered an opening shot against “political correctness,” and then - after namechecking Tocqueville, recapping his own inspirational life story, and calling for a better education system — voiced concern about the national debt and argued the case for a flat tax, using the Bible’s injunction to tithe a set percentage, and for health-savings accounts, a medical option that hasgained currency among conservatives. Crucially, he delivered this speech from a podium just feet from President Obama, who of course oversaw the passage of a very different health-care plan and has been a major proponent of progressive taxation. Obama, as he often does, remained somewhere between impassive and bored-looking. It’s fair to say he didn’t seem to be enjoying himself. [theatlantic.com, 2/19/13]

Carson Is A Successful Surgeon With A History Of Promoting Conservative Ideas And Supporting Republicans. Carson was named director of pediatric neurosurgery at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Hospital at age 33, the youngest to ever lead a major division. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bush in 2008. A longtime critic of President Obama’s health care law and an avowed creationist, Carson was approached to be the Republican candidate for Maryland lieutenant governor in 2010 and donated $1,000 to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012. [Baltimore Sun, 2/18/13; theatlantic.com, 2/19/13; opensecrets.org, accessed 2/20/13]

theatlantic.com’s Graham: “It’s Impossible To Pretend There’s No Racial Dimension Involved In A Successful Black Conservative Castigating The Liberal Black President.” Graham wrote of the conservative movement’s response to the speech:

Though many commentaries have tried tiptoe around it, it’s impossible to pretend there’s no racial dimension involved in a successful black conservative castigating the liberal black president. Black conservatives remain fascinating to Americans of all political persuasions and ethnicities; look no further than Herman Cain’s presidential campaign. And in the age of Obama — when many on the right feel that any criticism of the president is liable to draw undeserved claims of racism — a champion for the cause who can sidestep that retort is sure to be welcomed. Jonah Goldberg came closest to addressing this question, likening Carson to Booker T. Washington. [theatlantic.com, 2/19/13]

Ben Carson may be the right-wing’s latest heart-throb, somebody they can point to and say SEE WE’RE NOT RACISTS!1! but G-D help him if he steps one toe over the line and then he will join the other BRINO’s like Colin Powell and Condi Rice.

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